Experience from Inside the Spin-Off Journey

In 2015, I founded Cape Bio Pharms as a spin-off from the University of Cape Town’s Biopharming Research Unit. Over the following decade, I experienced first-hand the realities of converting university research into a functioning, funded and commercially focused company.
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The business grew from seven to 43 employees.  I secured public and private investment, worked with local and international shareholders, and navigated intellectual-property licensing, operational scale-up, investor reporting, market disruption and funding pressure.
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Covid-19, commercialisation delays and the withdrawal of anticipated market support due to removal of USA health funding, ultimately exhausted the company’s own funding runway, and Cape Biologix, the manufacturing subsidiary, ceased trading in 2026.
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That outcome is not hidden from my story. It is central to this service. I understand how promising ventures can lose value, how warning signs can emerge between formal reporting cycles.  I understand how difficult it can be for founders facing serious challenges, and how management teams, boards and investors need deeper insights to respond to shifting goalposts before options narrow and runways shorten.
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Over the years I have had many amazing (and brave) entrepreneurs asking for advice on so many subjects.  I now apply that experience earlier — helping founders think more clearly, set better priorities, make stronger decisions and spot risks sooner, before options narrow and momentum is lost.
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BELINDA SHAW